Panel mounted electrical connectors usually include a non-conductive or dielectric housing having a plurality of electrically conductive terminals mounted therein. The housing also includes means for mounting the connector to a panel. The panel mounted connector is mateable with other electrical apparatus, such as another connector, which, in turn, may be mounted to a second panel, a circuit board, a cable or discrete wires.
Quite often, the mating of a panel mounted electrical connector to another connector or circuit component often is carried out under "blind mating" conditions such that precise alignment of the panel mounted connector with the other connector or circuit component cannot be assured. Blind mating of panel mounted connectors may occur in a wide variety of applications including components of copying machines, computer equipment, telecommunications equipment and like applications. Attempts to forcibly blind mate improperly aligned electrical connectors can damage the housings of the connectors, the fragile terminals of the housings or the panels to which the connectors are mounted. Improper alignment also may prevent complete mating, thereby negatively affecting the quality of the electrical connection.
Various prior art panel mounted electrical connectors have been provided with means for permitting a controlled amount of float between the connector housing and the associated panel to solve the above problems in blind mating of panel mounted connectors. Many such connectors have been fairly complex multi-component structures which may even be manufactured separately from the electrical connector and require complex assembly and installation.
These problems are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,151 to Peterson, dated May 21, 1991 and assigned to assignee of the present invention, and which is incorporated herein by reference. In addition to discussing the problems of the prior art, that patent shows a floating panel mount for an electrical connector to facilitate blind mating applications. Although the system of that patent, employing the use of separate mounting posts extending from the connector, has proven quite effective for its intended purposes, the separate mounting posts of that system use up too much space or "real estate" on the panel for some applications.
The present invention is directed to still further improvements in such floating panel mounting systems and wherein substantially no extraneous space-demanding components are employed.